Gossip is in the ear of the beholder

January 17, 2010

Friends, Romans, Countrymen-do not lend me your ears.

I come to bury gossip, not to praise it. For the quality of slander is not restrained. It is twice cursed. Gossip curseth him that gives and him that takes.

Since the beginning of time people have talked about each other. I am certain in caveman times they sat around rubbing sticks together: “When is Ug ever going to evolve and get his paws off the ground? ”

However, the word gossip didn’t surface in our language until Old English. The word godsib originally referred to a close female friend present at the birth of a child, for whom she would assume the role of a godparent. This woman was the confidante to the new mother. She would say things like “ There, there. Stop your blatting. That stomach will go down eventually.”

Then the term evolved to describe intimate sharing of personal information. And the godsib would say things “I had a baby whose head was squished like that but I made a joke about it. “Bus driver, bus driver please open the door.”

It further expanded to the current use of evaluative talk about a third party in his or her absence. “ Doesn’t my god-child look at lot like the parish vicar?”

Out of this, the town gossip became a staple in the community. This was someone who elevated gossip beyond a mere pastime, He arbitrarily appointed himself the neighborhood watch. He sat outside a store and talked about everybody and everything going on around him, whether it was true or not. My neighbourhood gossip circulated a rumour that I was diagnosed with a fatal illness.
Apparently, I am not expected to live. Gosh, I hope I make it.

There needs to be a quota of gossipmongers in each strata of society. However if they cluster in one location, it’s called parliament. Or the foreign press.

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